Myrlie evers-williams biography of abraham lincoln

For those of you who watched President Obama’s inauguration yesterday, did you catch all the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln references? By my count, there were four moments that struck a Civil War chord:

* In Senator Charles Schumer’s opening remarks, he referenced the “improbable completion of the Capitol dome and capping it with a statue of freedom” in 1863. Using it as a metaphor for Lincoln’s resilience despite a literally divided nation, he said that in “present times far too man doubt … our ability to tackle our own era’s half domes.” Yet, in the end, “Now matter how steep the climb, difficult the problem, how half-finished the task, America always rises to the occasion. America Prevails and America Prospers.” (Personally this was my favorite Civil War reference).

* In the invocation, civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams said “One hundred-fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 50 years after the March on Washington, we celebrate the spirit of our ancestors, which has allowed us to move from a nation of unborn hopes and a history of disenfranchised votes, to today’s expression of a more perfect union.”

*After the invocation, the Brooklyn Tabernacle performed Battle Hymn of the Republic:

*Finally, in President Obama’s inaugural address, the fifth paragraph invokes Lincoln’s Second Inaugural: “Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.”

Any other references to the Civil War, Lincoln, or slavery you heard in the ceremony? Let us know in the comments.

• Evers-Williams missed her chance to speak at 1963 march
• Crowd urged to turn %22stand your ground%22 phrase into something positive
• Evers-Williams%27 home state was at heart of civil rights movement

WASHINGTON – Myrlie Evers-Williams stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial under gray skies Wednesday and warned a crowd of thousands that civil rights has "certainly taken a turn backward.''

"For a brief period of time, I think we fell asleep," she said. "And we said we have moved forward and everything is okay. But we know today that everything is not okay. That there has been a retrenchment in this country as far as civil rights and equal rights is concerned.''

Evers-Williams delivered her speech 50 years after she was scheduled to speak at the 1963 March on Washington. The widow of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers didn't make that event because of travel delays, but some say her message is as relevant as ever.

On Wednesday, she joined President Barack Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter at a "Let Freedom Ring" ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the march that took place Aug. 28, 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his I Have a Dream speech.

Evers-Williams, 80, has been a highly visible presence at the past week's events remembering the 1963 march.

On Saturday, speaking at a march also held to commemorate the original event, Evers-Williams urged the crowd of thousands to turn the phrase "stand your ground" into something positive. The phrase is a reference to the Stand Your Ground law in Florida that was the basis of George Zimmerman's defense in the Trayvon Martin case.

"There are efforts to turn back the clock of freedom and I ask you today, will you allow that to happen?" Evers-Williams said. "Stand your ground in terms of fighting for justice and equality. ''

At Wednesday's ceremony, Evers-Williams and other speakers urged the crowd to press for chan

Myrlie Evers-Williams, 72, and I talked long distance last Saturday at noon, separated by distance but connected by more than the telephone—both Mississippians, both widows, albeit by excruciatingly different circumstances, both left to raise small children without our beloved husbands, both survivors by the grace of God and with the love and support of family and friends.

Looking on the Internet, I learned that Bend, Ore., is her home now. I was surprised to learn Oregon is a state with its own history of treating its citizens inauspiciously at the least, with discrimination due only to differences in skin color and culture at the worst. It didn’t surprise me to discover that Evers-Williams—an activist in her own right and the former chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People—has been involved in changing that, serving as co-chairman for the Day of Acknowledgement on April 22, 1999, when 800 everyday Oregonians packed the House chamber at the state capitol in Salem and awakened in their elected officials an awareness that the need for change was upon them.

We talked for a long time about the need for change, the pain of losing a husband, and her upcoming visit to Jackson to sign and promote her new book, “The Autobiography of Medgar Evers,” edited with Manning Marable.

What, in your mind, is the connection, if any, between what happened on June 12, 1963, when your husband Medgar Evers was assassinated—we all know his life’s work did not die on that day—and April 22, 1999, the Day of Acknowledgement in Salem, Ore.?

That’s the first time I’ve been asked that. It speaks to the power of one, what one person can do in taking action, in fighting for justice. It’s similar to a pebble in water—you see the ripples. I certainly cannot claim that Medgar Evers’ life’s work caused this, but in some small way it truly did. Medgar’s role might be miniscule in many things that happen today in this country. Take, for instance, the third

(1933-)

Who Is Myrlie Evers-Williams?

Born in 1933, Myrlie Evers-Williams was the wife of murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers. While fighting to bring his killer to justice, Evers-Williams also continued her husband's work with her book, For Us, The Living. She also wrote Watch Me Fly: What I Learned on the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to Be. Evers-Williams served as chair of the NAACP from 1995 to 1998.

Marriage to Medgar Evers

Born Myrlie Louise Beasley on March 17, 1933, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Raised by her grandmother, a schoolteacher, Evers-Williams loved learning and music. Growing up in the segregated South, she went to Alcorn A&M College, one of the only colleges in the state that accepted African American students. While at Alcorn, she met Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran several years her senior. The couple fell in love and married in December of 1951.

When her husband became the Mississippi field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Evers-Williams worked alongside him. She assisted him as he strove to end the unjust practice of racial segregation in schools and other public facilities and campaigned for voting rights as many African Americans were denied this right in the South. Medgar made enemies of those who didn't want race relations in the South to change. On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was shot to death in front of his home by a white supremacist named Byron De La Beckwith.

Attempt at Justice

After her husband's murder, Evers-Williams fought hard to see his killer brought to justice. Although Beckwith was arrested and brought to trial on murder charges, two all-white juries could not reach a verdict in the case. It would take approximately 30 years for justice to be served, with Williams-Evers keeping the case alive and pushing for Beckwith to pay for his crime. Her efforts were not in vain. In the early 1990s, Beckwith was again a